In many modern buses having their propulsion engines mounted in an engine compartment provided in the rear end of the vehicle body, working space around such engines is extremely limited, since it is desirable to employ the maximum amount of available space within the body for the accommodation of passengers. This restriction of working space around the engine is worsened by the current tendency in bus design toward bigger engines and the proliferation of electrical, air and hydraulic accessory equipment, including air-conditioning, emission control, lighting, and actuators of various types such as those for the bus doors, etc.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,927, Inventor Keith W. Tantlinger, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, there is disclosed a bus having a power drive unit removably docked in a compartment provided in the rear portion of the bus body, said power drive unit comprising a frame releasably connected to the bus body, the frame being mounted for resilient support on, and in driving relation with, the rear wheels of the bus. The propulsion engine and various accessory mechanisms are mounted on this frame, and a tongue extending forwardly from the rear axle is hitched at its forward end to a strong, thrust resistant element of the bus body. The present invention is disclosed as being incorporated in a bus having a power drive unit of the type referred to, but can be employed with other rear engine vehicles wherein the engine and engine driven rear wheel assembly is readily releasable from the rear end of the vehicle body.
It is, of course, common practice to tilt the cab of a truck or tractor as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,857,602 and 3,851,913, but such arrangement is in no way suggestive of the present invention wherein the entire vehicle body is jacked up at its rear end relative to the propulsion engine embodied in a power drive unit.